Vocational schools get needed oversight

Private vocational schools play an important role in the California economy. About 400,000 state residents are enrolled in 1,500 schools, paying up to $40,000 for annual tuition in pursuit of careers in everything from auto mechanics to welding.

Yet state oversight of these schools has been weak. An investigation published by The Bay Citizen newspaper in December showed the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education regularly ignored complaints about deficient training that left program graduates unable to secure the jobs for which they studied. Some schools appear to be nothing more than diploma mills.

Thankfully, this has galvanized state action. The vocational training oversight bureau has new leadership, which last month ordered investigations into 77 schools.

Meanwhile, a reform bill authored by Assemblyman Marty Block, D-San Diego, has already passed the Assembly and is now before the Senate. It would mandate that private vocational schools tell potential students their accreditation status and their job placement record. It would also require specific disclosure of exactly what jobs that students would qualify for upon successful completion of their studies, among other mandates.

Some leaders of established, respected vocational schools say the bill goes too far and is onerous. They deserve to be heard out in coming Senate hearings. But the problem the bill addresses is real and deserves a response.